What is WHV? The WH what ?? Yes the WHV the work visa that allows me to fly to Canada in 3 weeks (specifying the weeks is part of the process of realizing the time passes as mentioned in last Sunday’s article to re-read here). Many of you are asking me questions about this, I thought that a small presentation would be welcome.
What is WHV?
Work Holiday Visa (or PVT: Permis Vacances Travail in French) is a visa that allows young people between the ages of 18 and 30 (35 years for some countries) to discover a country with the possibility of working there. It is issued by the embassy of the host country and does not only concern France, but several other countries can benefit from this visa to explore the countries participating in the program. This program may be carried out only once per person per country, with the exception of Australia under certain conditions.
The WHV to go where?
Currently young French people can apply for WHV to go to discover 10 countries in the world. For information, Canadians have a choice between 30 countries. You surely know someone who has gone a few months in Australia, New Zealand or Canada, and that’s most of the time, because they are the three major destinations of this agreement. But you can also discover Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Chile, Russia, Colombia, Mexico or Uruguay. Yes, that leaves some possibilities. In exchange the young people of these countries can come to do the same thing in France.
The WHV for whom?
The WHV is for youth aged 18 to 30, 35 for Canada. Australia could also postpone its participation deadline by 5 years. Good news for the PVTistes serial (a PVTist being someone who gets a PVT in French). You must provide proof of a blank trap and a certain amount on your bank account.
The WHV for how long?
This visa gives you the maximum length of time you can legally stay in the territory. You can decide to stay less, you are free to organize your time as you wish. Generally it is 12 months except Canada which offers 2 years.
The WHV to work where?
This visa is your key to entering the country, after you find a job to meet your needs if you feel like it / need it. If you want to work 6 months and travel 6 months is your right. This is all the freedom of Permis Vacances Travail. You can also change employers freely without challenging your work permit. You are not related to an employer.
The WHV how?
We start talking about things a little more complicated, we attack the paperwork. Depending on the country, it is more or less simple. The application is made online on the immigration sites of the countries concerned. You are asked for copies of your passport, a resume and a cover letter. Proof of bank background (different amounts depending on the country), an extract of criminal record of all the countries in which you have lived more than 6 months. The answer is often within a few days or even a few hours. This is not the case for Canada.
How much does WHV cost?
The price varies according to the destination, in Canada one pays C $ 250, in Australia 440 $ AU for example.
Where to find info on WHV?
The site Pvtistes.net is the reference in the medium. At the birth of this site of the buddies who travel and who do not find info on this visa on line. They decide to share their info to help others by creating their site. Today all the travelers know them and all the pvtists thank them greatly, without them I confess that my requests would have been much more complicated. They are not there for the application on your behalf nor find a job or accommodation for you instead they share the tutorials to follow to the letter to make his application correctly. With that impossible to miss. You will also find files according to the destinations, experiences feedback, forums to exchange and share the stress of the application (more specific to the requests for Canada in fact.
The big plus of this visa?
Undoubtedly to have the possibility to leave on the spot without having a job in his pocket. We know that many countries block entry if you do not have a job before arriving in the country.
The specificities of the Canada WHV?
Canada is the only country to impose quotas to meet the large visa requirement. On average each year the country issues 6750 visas for the French. A number for the Belgians, yet another number for the Irish (my friend Laura whom I visited at the end of the year in Ireland and whom I met in Toronto benefited from this visa as well). The application is also online since 2014. For my first visa in February 2014 the application was made for the first time online on a first-come, first-served basis. The first connected who arrived to fill the file and click on send without the site bug being a world champion. A big failure for many since the servers of the Canadian embassy did not survive the many connections. One can even sometimes read words like “survivors of the 2014 session” so the process left a bitter taste to those who were re-flagged. I was one of the lucky winners and I flew a few months later.
By 2015 the same process is applied. Failure again. 2016 we start on a new principle, the one in which I participated for the visa that I currently have in my pocket. We register calmly without seizure of nerves against the waiters of the embassy. In this way you reach a pool and from time to time (usually on Mondays but not every Monday, I think it is still a mystery) the embassy pulls lots of people. From that moment you receive an e-mail that informs you of your selection, you must send a series of papers to show white paw. You can wait up to 8 weeks to get the final result and the famous letter of introduction that allows you to retrieve your work visa upon arriving at Canadian immigration.
For the story last year some said they had received their letter of introduction in 5 days (usually it is 2 weeks max), for my case it was more than 5 weeks. I had even lost hope 😉
Above I was telling you that one WHV can be made per person, so many are surprised that I leave for a second time in the same country. Between 2014 and 2016 the conditions changed.
2014 was the last session with a visa for a period of 12 months, it was then possible to link a second visa in the same category but needed to have a job and a boss who wanted to keep us, called Young Pro Visa tied us to our job.
Since 2015 the WHV and the Young Pro Visa are no longer cumulable but they have both passed to a duration of 24 months. People like me who had only one visa in this category had the opportunity to relocate to take advantage of the new conditions. So I have a total of three potential years in Canada.
I hope that it is a little clearer for you now, if it is not the case do not hesitate to ask me questions I will try to answer it at best.
Belle soirée mes petits loups à frange.
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